


Brawls, Bruises, and Bear-Monsters, Oh My

by whitebeltwriter



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: And doodles!, I could not think up a serious title for this, Mild Angst, Now with a dusting of crack, also a smidgen of fluff, at all, minor blood, season one spoilers, smidgen, tis a fun word, well I say smidgen but I think lots of stuff is fluffy so yeah
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-24
Updated: 2018-09-27
Packaged: 2019-07-16 07:54:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16081781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whitebeltwriter/pseuds/whitebeltwriter
Summary: In which Rayla once again makes the mistake of taking directions from Callum and runs into his loving-but-can-and-will-kill-you, elf-hating, aunt.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have fallen hopelessly in love with this show and as I post this have watched the entire series twice (which given it's nine episodes long does not amount to much but my point stands).
> 
> Takes place post-Season One.
> 
> Text between these symbols [ ] denotes signing.
> 
> Don't ask me how a small thought turned out to be this long, I do not know.

_Let’s sneak past the Breach, Rayla!_

_It’ll cut our journey in half, Rayla!_

_They’ll_ never _expect us to go so near such a heavily fortified stronghold, filled to bursting with elf-hating humans,_ Rayla!

“I am _never_ listening to one of Callum’s travelling directions _again!_ ” Rayla grunted as her blade just barely caught her opponent’s shield before it could smash into her face.

* * *

Just a few weeks after Azymondias hatched on the Cursed Caldera, and a fond farewell was given to Ellis and Ava, the group found themselves at a natural fork in the road; a small range of mountains dividing the path into two general directions: northeast and southeast.

Rayla had wanted to retrace the path her group had made on the course of their mission and head southeast, continuing their long trek before slipping through a small gap in the human border’s defenses, through rough terrain human’s had thought unsurpassable.

_Callum_ had the “brilliant” idea of going northeast, and trying to pass through the _Breach_ of all places; his argument being that it was far closer and Rayla’s path would be difficult for two humans–one of whom was only ten–a glow toad _and_ a baby dragon.

The elf’s counter-argument was that the Breach was the most harshly defended spot on the human side of the border.

Ezran popped up that the soldiers would be focused on keeping things out of the kingdoms, not keeping them in.

Callum assured her that he had been to the Breach before and that all they had to do was skirt _around_ the main stronghold and then he would be able to find an easier way through to Xadia.

One would think that after the “Banther Lodge Incident”, they all would have learned something. But, in the end, Rayla was sorely outvoted and northeast they went.

The going was easier than Rayla’s planned course, as Callum had said, and soon they saw the towers of the Breach’s main stronghold, which the eldest prince made a huge show of avoiding, with the border in sight not long after.

Rayla had been just an hour or so away from admitting Callum’s plan had been better–

When who should stride out of the woods but General Amaya herself and one of her guards; the absolute shock on their faces at seeing the group of misfits suggesting that they had simply been out for a casual mid-morning stroll, not actively seeking anyone.

Before the boys could call out to stop her, Amaya unhitched her shield and rushed Rayla, clearly intending to take out the elf before she had a chance to put her blades to Callum and Ezran’s necks again.

Rayla blocked the staggering blow and had to watch helplessly as the General’s guard, a large hulk of a man, physically snatched both boys under his arms and made a mad-dash towards the Breach, blatantly ignoring the princes’ cries to stop, with Bait latched onto Ezran’s arm for dear life, and Zym sleeping inside Callum’s pack, completely unaware of any and all concerning turn of events.

The elf’s attempt to give chase was swiftly denied as General Amaya began her attack again with gusto, and so their rematch began in haste.

Back and forth the two warriors parried, Rayla trying to slip past the human–not particularly _wanting_ to hurt the boys’ aunt and struggling a bit as a result–and Amaya pushing her back at every attempt, their battle causing them to zigzag through the woods until a clearing revealed itself alongside a raging river.

The white haired girl realized the older woman’s intentions as the General began driving her closer and closer to the water’s edge, and Rayla began pushing back harder until her blades were both locked with Amaya’s shield, neither capable of budging the other.

“Will ye just stop already?! I don’t want ta hurt ye _or_ the boys!” Rayla growled into Amaya’s face, hoping the forced standstill would give the General time to read her lips properly.

With a huff Amaya dropped down and back, effectively launching the lighter elf nearly halfway across the clearing and closer to the edge. Rayla rolled deftly with the throw and was back on her feet and facing the General in an instant, the older woman making a sign the elf recognized from their last encounter that meant “liar” and got ready to charge again.

Rayla growled in frustration and braced herself for the next attack–

–When Ezran screamed her name and stole her breath away.

“Ezran!” she cried, staring into the forest as if she could see him if she gazed hard enough.

The pound of heavy footfalls clued her in just in time to dodge the General’s latest attack and back at it they went.

The terrible roar of _something_ arose from the woods.

_Gods take it! I cannae leave those two alone fer a minute!_

“The boys are ‘n trouble, ye need ta stop!” she begged as Amaya pushed her back again towards the river.

Rayla glanced back and felt helpless. There had to be a way to get through to her! Something to show that Rayla wasn’t the problem!

_Think, think, think!_

_“Heellllp!”_ Callum’s voice rang out from the forest, tearing the elf apart inside but also hardening her resolve.

She made her decision–

–And threw her opened blades down into the dirt.

The General charged again and landed a staggering blow that sent Rayla flying back, having made no effort at all to defend herself.

Amaya glanced at the discarded weapons for a split second before advancing again on the young elf just as she’d regained her footing.

She landed blows again and again, with both her shield and her fist.

But the elf made no move to block any of them, only to stand back up when given the chance.

Finally, Rayla stood upon the edge of the rushing water, with nowhere left to go, bruised and battered, her lip bleeding and her left eye already well on its way to swelling shut.

One more hit and she would be in the raging torrent.

The human moved in once more, to end it.

“I…am not…yer enemy,” Rayla huffed, staring straight into the General’s eyes.

Amaya drew her arm back for a final blow–

–And a loud boom sounded in the woods behind her!

The woman turned towards the sudden harsh vibrations instinctually and the young elf used the second of distraction to barrel past her and into the woods towards all the commotion.

Her mad dash brought her to a scene of chaos.

A large, bear-like creature stood over the prone body of Amaya’s guard. Trees and even boulders all around were gouged and torn to sheds. Callum and Bait were both trapped under the large branch of an even larger tree-the source of the boom-to one side of the impromptu clearing, while Ezran was somehow on the other, holding Zym’s bulging bag in his arms, and looking terrified out of his wits.

Rayla reached for her weapons, cursing loudly when she realized she hadn’t grabbed them as she escaped from the General. She instead wrenched an already broken branch off a nearby tree just as the creature began ambling towards where Ezran sat on the ground, frozen as a statue.

Charging forward with a battle cry, the young elf swung the makeshift club up and under the beast’s jaw as hard as she could, careening its head up towards the sky and snapping the branch in two.

As it staggered back, stunned from the surprise attack, Rayla dropped her now useless weapon and snatched Ezran and the bag up, dashing over to Callum as the creature began to snap out of it.

“Are ye hurt?” she asked the older prince, dropping Ezran to begin trying to pry the piece of wood off of her friends.

“No, just pinned!” he replied as she managed to lift the bough just enough for Bait to slip out from under it. “I’ll be fine, just take Ez, Zym and Bait and go!”

“Ferget it!” Rayla grunted, her muscle crying out at the strain, weakened from her long bout with Amaya. “I got the two of ye this far! I ain’t losing ye thanks to some mislaid _twig_ and an overgrown _furball_!”

“Uhh, speaking of furballs–“ Ezran interjected, “–He’s coming back!”

The elf spun around to see the brute beginning to charge at them, eyes blazing and jowls dripping as it roar its fury at being struck.

Taking no time to actually think, Rayla charged as well, jumping up and onto the beast’s back at the last moment, narrowly missing get sliced into ribbons by its slashing claws. Twisting about deftly, she wrapped her arms around its neck and choked it for all she was worth as it furiously pranced around trying to buck her off.

“Rayla!”

“Ez can’t you ask it to calm down?!”

“I tried but he won’t listen!”

The young elf cried out as the creature’s claws raked down both her arms, still trying to dislodge her, but she simply tucked her head in more and tightened her grip as much as her aching arms would allow.

As the beast spun around and around, Rayla was vaguely aware that another figure was now kneeling next to Callum and Ezran. She briefly wondered if it was the guard from earlier before her breath was completely crushed out of her as the brute ran and _slammed_ its back into a tree, pinning the white haired girl hard against it for a moment before bounding off and doing it again on another tree.

Back and forth the beast went, doing everything its enraged mind could think of to get her off.

Still she hung on.

It felt like eons had passed until finally, _mercifully_ , the creature’s breath became increasingly labored and shallow, its bounds turned to drunken staggers, and in the end it collapsed with a resounding “thwoomp” in the center of the carved out clearing.

Dazed as she was, it took several moments for Rayla to realize she was no longer being tossed about like a boat on a raging sea and gingerly began removing her arms from where they had held their death grip. Rising onto shaking legs, the elf looked where she had left the boys to find that Callum had been freed by none other than his aunt who in turn was staring at Rayla with something that looked like a combination of amazement and disbelief.

“Rayla!” Ezran called out, looking both happy that she was not in fact dead but also deeply concerned, a look his brother shared.

“- _Ez_ it’s okay, I’m–“ the world tilted and the last thing Rayla saw was the boys rushing towards her before everything went dark and quiet.

* * *

Amaya had given chase to the escaping elf the moment she had finally managed to slip by her, cursing internally all the while at getting distracted.

Despite the beating she had just received, the assassin quickly disappeared out of sight, though she seemed to be travelling straight towards whatever had shook the ground.

As the General’s feet raced to get between the elf and her nephews, for they were heading in the direction her man had taken them, her mind raced as well.

_What is this monster planning?_

_What was she thinking dragging the boys so close to the Breach? She had to of known the place would be swarming with soldiers?_

How _did she manage to get the boys this far? They didn’t look like they were tied up and her weapons were away. Has she completely cowed them into submission?_

_Why throw down her weapons and take all my attacks head-on?_

_Why didn’t she try to actually kill me?_

Bursting into a clearing that wasn’t there before, Amaya bore stunned witness to the elf trying to lift essentially the weight of an entire tree off of Callum as a bear-like monster lumbered a small distance away.

The beast charged towards them and before the General could react, the _elf_ had run at it in turn and grabbed it in a chokehold of all things, drawing its attention away from the boys.

Shocked at the strange sight of an elf riding a brute like a bucking bronco, it took her a few moments to snap out of it and run to her nephews.

Ezran noticed her first, his lips moving so fast as he begged her to help…her? Dismissing it as a misread on her part, Amaya assessed how her eldest nephew was trapped under the branch and set about hacking at the base of the limb where it was still attached to the tree with her short sword, hoping to break it and thus lift it off Callum. She glanced at him and Ezran a few times–to make sure they weren’t panicking too much–but each time their attention was solely focused on the clearing behind her.

Finally she chopped the branch enough that one solid hit had it splintering from the trunk with a crack that she could feel in the air. Lifting it up and off of Callum, she gave him a quick once over to make sure he was unharmed before turning back to the clearing just in time to see the beast run and slam its back, and thus the elf, into the massive trunk of a tree.

She could see the girl’s mouth open in a yell, could actually _feel_ the vibration from the impact through the soles of her feet, but the elf didn’t yield her grip.

Turning to the boys she got their attention and signed, [The assassin won’t be able to last much longer. We need to go now while she’s distracted.]

Amaya reached for Ezran and Callum but they both stepped back, Ezran’s mouth moving a mile a minute while his brother’s hands whipped through the air faster than she’d ever seen him move them.

[We can’t leave her!] He signed and spoke at the same time. [She’s our friend! We have to help her!]

[Friend?! She kidnapped and threatened to kill you!]

[No she didn’t! I lied about what I said at the lodge! She’s not a monster, she doesn’t drink blood, and she doesn’t want to hurt us!]

[She’s an assassin! One of many who were sent to kill your father!]

[She was also supposed to kill Ezran but she didn’t because we found something!]

[What?! Ezran!?!]

[I’m sorry I lied but I promise we have a good reason for it, one that I _will_ explain just as soon as we help her!]

Before Amaya could respond to that, both boys looked away at the same time the ground gave a small shudder. Following their gaze the General’s jaw dropped as the assassin unwound her arms from around the beast neck and stood over where it laid sprawled on the ground.

_She…she actually did it?_

The older woman saw Ezran take a small step forward out of the corner of her eye. He must have spoken because the girl–and gods above she was barely older than Callum wasn’t she–looked up, her face black and blue and tried to give him a small…smile?

“- _Ez_ it’s okay, I’m–“ her mouth moved before her eyes rolled back into her skull and she fainted dead away, the boys–and even _Bait_ –rushing to her before she’d even hit the ground.

Amaya hadn’t even taken a step to follow them–to do what, she wasn’t sure–when more movement to her right caught her eye. Turning she realized that Ezran had dropped the bag he’d been holding this whole time, and furthermore, said bag was moving.

Kneeling down, she slowly unbuckled the bag–

And nearly had a heart attack as a bright blue ball of fur all but leapt out at her, sending her embarrassingly onto her rear end.

Amaya blinked her eyes rapidly, but the vision before her didn’t go away.

Poking its fluffy head out of her nephew bag–and giving an impressive yawn that showed off its baby fangs–was a dragon hatchling.

But not just any kind of hatchling: a _sky dragon_ hatchling.

Her mind raced with the implications.

_Sky dragons only have an egg once in a thousand years._

_The last known egg laid was the Dragon Prince._

_But his egg was destroyed._

_But there is very much a live baby sky dragon right in front of me._

_So it wasn’t._

_So someone lied–_

Viren _._

_Must have stolen it to use in some dark magic spell of his!_

_…Callum said they’d found something-was this it?_

_If the egg survived then…_

She looked towards the boys, Callum now gingerly holding the elf in his lap as Ezran’s mouth moved, obviously trying to wake her up.

_…Were they…trying to return it?_

As she pondered over the enormity of… _this_...her attention was once again captured by the baby dragon in the bag, who had evidently noticed that his friends looked distressed, was trying to crawl out of the knapsack with little success.

Not even thinking twice about it, to her own surprise, Amaya stood and moved closer to the dragon and gingerly freed it from the bag, placing it on the ground as one would a puppy that had fallen over on itself. The dragon looked up at her and seemed to almost _smile_ before bumbling over to the kids, tripping and tumbling along the way.

The General made a decision.

The boys looked up as both the dragon and their aunt came to them, looking up at her with wide eyes.

[We need to talk,] she signed.

They looked crestfallen.

[But first we’ll get some help for the…for your friend.]

* * *

Rayla woke up to a ceiling she had never seen before.

She laid there for a moment, pondering when exactly it was she had actually _slept_ under a roof, when the memory of everything that had happened popped back into place and she tried to sit up–

–Only to plop back down onto the bed she laid on– _oh hey, I’m on a bed_ –as her entire body gave _great_ protest to her moving in any fashion.

Gritting her teeth, she struggled to sit up again–she _had_ to find the boys–only to have someone gently but firmly pushed her shoulder back down onto the mattress.

Eyes snapping open she looked up to see none other than General Amaya standing over her, minus her usual armor for once.

“Oh fer the love of–I don’t have time fer this! I got ta find Callum and Ezran and if I have to take another beating from ye then–“

The General raised her hand in an obvious stop motion–the suddenness of the movement making the elf halt her rant–and stepped aside as she gestured behind when she’d been standing.

There, piled onto a chair that was probably meant to hold just one full-grown man, were Bait, Zym, and Ezran, all curled on top of Callum, and all gently snoring.

Rayla could actually feel a good chunk of her stress flow away as she laid eyes on her friends, the relief causing her to flop back onto the bed with a sigh.

The snapping of fingers drew her eyes back to the human general, whose presence she’d manage to forget about in only a few seconds of laying eyes on the boys.

Amaya looked at her for a second before her hands began moving.

“ _Heh_ , sorry General, but all Callum’s taught me so far in sign is a variety of curse words, which I doubt would be helpful unless ye feel like calling me some choice names.”

The human raised an eyebrow and gave Callum’s sleeping form a look that said she’d be having a discussion with her nephew later.

Turning back she maintained eye contact with Rayla and pointed at the “puppy-pile”: specifically at the bright blue puppy with wings.

“Ah, I see ye met Azymondias, though we like to call him Zym.”

Amaya made a motion of putting something on her head and flapping her hands.

“…If that was ye asking if he’s the Dragon Prince then the answer is yes, he is.”

The General nodded and spread her arms apart in the apparently universal sign for [What in the world happened?!]

“Did the boys not already tell ye?” Rayla asked as she finally managed to move up enough to sit back on her pillow so that she wasn’t looking up at the General so much, and to take stock of her injuries. Both arms were almost completely wrapped in gauze from where the brute had all but shredded her upper arms and it felt like every square inch of her skin had at least one bruise on it. Her eye was more swollen than she would prefer, but someone must have been holding something on it, because it wasn’t as bad as it ought to have been.

Looking up again, the elf caught Amaya tugging on her own ear and pointing at her.

“Ye…want ta hear my side?” she guessed.

The woman nodded.

“How about that, I’m good at this game.”

The General looked less than amused.

Rayla sighed, “Fine. But ye better pull up a seat. It’s a long tale.”

Amaya obliged, and the young elf started at the beginning: with the death of the Dragon King and the supposed destruction of his only egg.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In Which Rayla and Amaya Have a Talk That is Half Speaking, Half Writing, and All Awkward

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Accents are hard to write consistently and still be readable/understandable.
> 
> All text between these symbols ~~ denotes written words.
> 
> For simplicity's sake, we will assume that Rayla had to learn to read/write common human languages as part of her training, since I'm sure some language changes have arisen in the THOUSAND YEARS since humans were cast out of Xadia.

Convincing her men that she wanted to take the elf to the _infirmary_ rather than the _dungeon_ was almost as difficult as getting both the would-be assassin _and_ her still unconscious guard out of the woods in the first place.

* * *

Amaya wound up carrying her man over her shoulder (a feat both her nephews gawked at impressively–not that she preened _much_ over the attention) while Callum struggled to hold the elf–[ _Rayla_ ] Ezran had patiently spelled for her–on his back, though he didn’t once complain.

As they trekked towards the Main Stronghold, the boys took turns explaining how they came to be in their current situation; journeying across the kingdom, _by themselves_ , with a moonshadow elf assassin and the egg of the Dragon Prince, now hatched, in tow.

Amaya was impressed they had made it as far as they had–

–And absolutely furious they hadn’t asked anyone for help, least of all her!

She did her best to convey her annoyance, but found she could only sign so much when one arm was occupied holding the body of her guard.

Though by the cowed looks on her nephew’s faces, she believed she got her point across well enough.

“I told Callum we should tell you, but he was worried you wouldn’t listen and try to hurt Rayla anyway, after what you said at breakfast,” Ezran explained sheepishly.

The General was halfway through her denial when she recalled that she had attacked the elf first–not once but _twice_ –and the second time the assassin had barely tried to defend herself in the end.

[Okay. That is fair. But you could have at least _tried_. I had to watch her hold blades to both of your throats and threaten to kill you in half a second; what else was I supposed to think of that?!]

“We’re sorry,” Callum said, “But…no one at the castle would listen to us about what was really going on. Even Rayla’s…commanding officer guy, wouldn’t listen and we showed him the egg ourselves. We just couldn’t take that risk again so soon.”

[…Even with me?]

Her eldest nephew dropped his head, but she could still see his lips as he said, “I’m sorry.”

Looking at the obvious shame coming off Callum, Amaya smiled and smacked him up the backside of his head, careful to avoid hitting the elf by mistake.

The blow, light as it was, had Callum stumbling, but once he regained his footing and grip on Rayla, he looked up to see the forgiving smile on his aunt’s face.

[No use moaning over a broken candle. We just need to trim the top a bit and it’ll be burning again in no time.]

The eldest prince smiled and nodded, one arm snaking up to rub at his eyes as the battlements came into view.

* * *

After _finally_ getting the lot of them checked out­–she’d had to threaten court martial just to get the physician to give the young elf the most basic aid–Amaya took all the children up to her personal quarters, not entirely comfortably leaving the assassin alone in the infirmary.

The boys–toad and dragon included–flat out refused to leave the girl’s side as she laid in the General’s own bed, so she had to arrange for nourishment to be brought to them, though they scarfed it down easily enough.

Eventually the events of the day got to them and they piled into a chair and promptly fell asleep.

While they slept, Amaya took a good look at their…unorthodox travelling companion.

Now that she had a chance–and had received a stern talking to by Ezran over judging people by their appearances–the General strived to look past the horns and ears and see the “girl” behind the “elf”. And truly she– _Rayla–_ really was a girl wasn’t she? Elves aged slower than humans, but even still this one barely seemed old enough to join the armed forces, nevermind join in on the assassination of such a high ranking figure like a king.

_Were the elves that desperate for boots on the ground, or did she just have that much talent?_

Callum had said she was skilled, and Amaya had witnessed this firsthand, yet he also said the elf had claimed to have never killed anyone before.

_More like an “assassin-in-training”, than a true assassin then. But who would drag an untested child so deep into enemy territory? There must be something else to it all._

Lying in a bed, in a shirt that was too big and gauze wrapped around both arms, Amaya was very much aware just how… _small_ she was.

Even when she was flying into the dirt, Rayla had gotten back up defiantly with a strength better suited to one twice her age and a will to match.

 _She dropped her weapons and stopped attacking, just to try to prove that she wasn’t a threat to me–that she wasn’t the problem I should be focusing on. I would have killed her…and she’d have let me just so that she wouldn’t harm someone she didn’t think deserved it._ She considered the sleeping pile in the chair.

 _And so that_ they _wouldn’t have to lose someone else so soon after their father._

_She wasn’t their captor. She’s their friend._

…

_I might be an idiot._

* * *

It took most of the day and a good bit of the night before Rayla woke up. After getting her version of events (and what a series of events it was) and satisfied that it lined up with what her nephews had told her, Amaya acquired some soup and bread for the elf.

After taking her time sniffing it (leaving the General to wonder if elves were actually capable of sniffing out poison) Rayla began downing the soup with gusto, occasionally pausing to tear off a chunk of bread with her teeth.

Her enthusiasm made Amaya chuckle (which in turned earned her a death glare that was significantly diminished in strength due to chipmunk cheeks) before the older woman’s face fell and she rose from her seat to grab some items from her desk in the corner of the room. Rayla eyed her over her bowl of soup as she returned with some paper, a small board and a pencil, and began writing. The General held up the board after a moment.

~I owe you an apology.~

Rayla blinked. Swallowed. Reread the board. And blinked again.

“ _Alright_ … Fer what, exactly?”

Amaya sighed and scribbled some more.

~For not stopping to ask questions before attempting to remove your head from your shoulders.~

“Which time, the lodge or the riverbank? All the hits to me head have made things a wee bit fuzzy,” Rayla joked, taking another bite from her loaf.

~I’m serious!~ the General scowled.

“Aye, so am I,” the elf retorted with her mouth full. She rolled her eyes and swallowed at the human’s less than amused frown.

“ _Look_ ; no matter the circumstances at the time, at the end of the day I am an enemy combatant and ye are their aunt. I can _hardly_ hold a grudge for ye doing everything you could to protect them; even if it was misguided and gave me this here _lovely_ shiner.”

The look on the older woman’s face said that while she understood the young elf’s logic, she still felt bad.

“Tell ye what, as soon as I can move my arms without wanting to scream in absolute agony, I’ll give ye yer very own shiner. How’s that sound?”

~I don’t think you’re fully appreciating how close I’ve come to killing you.~

“I literally crossed the world to kill that fluffy-haired boyo in the chair that’s currently drooling onto the baby dragon whose supposed death I was meant to avenge. If Ezran can forgive me for a _planned assassination_ , I don’t see why I can’t forgive you for a spur of the moment reaction.”

Amaya blinked several times before dragging her hand over her face and shaking her head in bemusement.

~You are something else.~

“Am I? What gave it away: the horns, the ears, or the four fingers on each hand?”

The General laughed at that. ~I see how you became friends with my nephews. The three of you have the same sense of humor.~

“Excuse ye! Bad enough you pummel me black and blue; _now_ ye insult me by saying I have the same humor as Callum?! I’m much funnier than he is!” Rayla joked.

~It _is_ a bit of an acquired taste, but he’s trying.~

“I agree he is trying; I’m just not entirely sure what he’s _trying_ to do.”

Amaya began writing a retort but stopped, her face falling. From where she sat the elf could read the words ~He has his father’s~

Rayla sighed and bowed her head. “I’m sorry.”

She looked up when a hand tapped the bed, Amaya’s paper now reading, ~ ~~He has his father’s~~ Can’t read lips I can’t see.~ The General had tried scratching out the previous words, but Rayla could still read them.

“I said I’m sorry, alright!” Rayla snapped, staring Amaya straight in the eyes.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t save him! I’m sorry I almost killed Callum and Ezran! I’m sorry I signed up to take revenge for something that didn’t even happen! Even tho-I just–UGH!” She drew her legs up under the covers and buried her head in her arms as they wrapped around her knees, in spite of her injuries.

The young girl felt the human tap the bed and heard her snap her fingers to get her attention, but she would only shake her head in reply.

* * *

 _It’s official; I’m an idiot,_ Amaya bemoaned mentally as Rayla refused to look up from where she’d curled in on herself. She hadn’t meant for her to see what she’d written, didn’t mean bring up her part in the King’s death, and she _certainly_ didn’t mean to cause her mental agony to compliment her physical ones.

 _Looks like I have more apologies to make,_ she decided dejectedly. _I hate making apologies._

Small ba-bumps had her twisting in her seat to see the baby dragon–Zym–picking himself up from where he’d plopped onto the floor and waddling over to the bed, evidently to see what it was that had awakened him.

Epiphany striking her like a bolt out of the blue, Amaya tossed her board onto the end of the bed–mindful of where Rayla’s legs were–stood and plucked Zym up from where he’d been pawing at the edge of the bed, only to gingerly deposit him on the edge of it; right next to where the young elf was curled up.

Predictably, Rayla jolted up when she felt the sudden presence of something new beside her on the bed, her wide tear-filled eyes looking into the face of the blue dragon with a bemused expression.

The General snatched her board back up–taking a moment to _really_ black out the offensive sentence–and hurriedly scribbled a new message which she all but shoved into Rayla’s face.

~HE wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for YOU.~

The elf sniffed, the barest ghost of a smile crossing her face as Zym licked her tear marks.

“Not sure about that; _Ezran’s_ the one that found him, not me. He probably would have told someone about the ‘big glowing egg in this secret dungeon I found’ eventually.”

~Not likely. For one, Ezran would also be dead if not for you, and even if your unit hadn’t been sent to kill him, Viren would have probably found a way to keep him silent about the egg, one way or another.~

“ _Sniff_ –Who’s Viren?”

Amaya sneered as she wrote, ~Katolis’s vile snake of a High Mage. I’d bet my hands that he’s behind all of this madness: killing Thunder, stealing the egg and lying about it, thus causing Xadia to seek revenge, which has now opened the floodgates for what could be the worst war we’ve seen between the Five Kingdoms and Xadia in generations. It sounds just like him.~

“Well now, he sounds just _lovely_ ,” the young elf deadpanned.

~I would be slow to act if you decided you wanted to try your hand at assassinating him.~

Rayla chuckled at that, and also at Zym’s renewed efforts to clean her face.

She spied Amaya writing some more and catches her attention, stating, “If yer writing another apology I swear I’ll rip that board out of yer hands and smack ye on the head with it.”

The General looked between her and the paper a few times before “subtly” scratching out something she had written.

“Huh, I’m a human-whisperer,” Rayla remarked to Zym, giving his chin a scratch, “Who knew?”

~You’re going to be a handful aren’t you?~

“Oh absolutely,” the elf replied with a toothy grin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments give me life/feed my muse goblin, as does sending me prompts at tumblr:  
> whitebeltwriter dot tumblr dot com


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In Which Rayla Would Rather Slash Than Splash

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Crack.  
> This chapter is pretty much just crack and silliness inspired by that one drawing in the credits of baby Rayla in the tub.
> 
> PSA For those who tend to skip credits/intros because Netflix is awesome and does that, go back and watch the ending of every TDP episode! Each one has a DIFFERENT series of drawings, some relating to something in the episode and the rest just fluffy goodness.

Rayla’s arms ached, as every step she took made them throb.

She wasn’t back at full strength yet after Amaya had handed her rear end to her.

A stitch (not the thread kind) had formed in her sides already, but she wouldn’t stop.

She _couldn’t_ stop.

Not when those strides were still echoing behind her, gaining ground with every moment.

She couldn’t keep this up; she _knew_ that.

She needed a plan.

She needed to _hide._

She needed–

_“Ezran!”_

* * *

The Crown Prince was making his way back to his aunt’s room (after successfully robbing the kitchen of its fresh batch of jelly tarts) when Rayla came careening around a corner and nearly bowled him over.

“Whoa–Rayla! You’re out of bed! Are you feeling better already?” he asked, just barely managing to keep a grip on his bundle of sweets.

The elf grabbed his shoulders, more out of breath than he’d ever seen her, and when she finally drew her head up Ezran saw pure panic coating her face in sweat.

“Ez! Ye gotta help me! She won’t stop!”

“Who won’t? What’s going on?”

“Yer aunt! She’s stopped listening to reason and she wants to–“ Rayla went as silent and frozen as a statue, her already pale face draining even further.

Ezran opened his mouth to ask what was wrong, but thought better of it as she slowly turned her head back the way she’d come mere moments ago. He looked as well but could see nothing but the hallway they were in and the beginning of the one running perpendicular to it.

But…he could hear something? Sounded like someone runn–

“She’s coming!” Rayla whipped back around. “Ezran please, I beg of ye, hide me!”

The boy’s head whipped side to side but there wasn’t anywhere in the hallway for _him_ to hide, let alone a 5’ 7” elf.

“There’s nothing here! Just keep running, I’ll try to slow her down!”

“But Ez–“

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine,” he said confidently, “Just go!”

Rayla cracked a watery smile, “Yer a good’un.”

“I know,” Ezran grinned as she bolted past him as fast as she could in her current state.

He turned back just as his aunt cleared the corner and stepped into their hallway, her head twisting here and there until it landed on him, surprised.

“Hello Aunt Amaya! How are you today?”

* * *

Callum sighed as he searched for his little brother.

“Leave it to Ezran to snatch an entire batch of jelly tarts right out from under a score of soldiers. Ha! Snatch a batch! Ah, that was a good on– _oof!_ ”

The eldest prince fell flat on his back as something slammed into him.

“Dah– _ooh_ , sorry Callum!” Rayla said as she haltingly helped him back to his feet.

“Oh, that’s alright,” he winced, “I missed the feeling of getting knocked down anyway.”

“’Kay–bye!” the elf tried to take off, but Callum grabbed her hand, apologizing profusely when she hissed in pain.

“Sorry–sorry! But what’s the rush? You look like you’re being chased by a mob of angry humans,” he joked.

“Aye, and I would prefer that, but _noooo_ , instead I get yer crazy, demented aunt on my tail!”

“Aunt Amaya? Why? What’s she done? Did she try to hurt you again?!”

Rayla shook her head, eyes wide. “No. _Worse._ ”

“Worse than getting punched by my General of an aunt?!”

She nodded solemnly.

“She wants…” the elf glanced around as if fearful of being heard, “…to give me a _bath!_ ”

“…excuse me?”

“A bath, Callum! She got me out of bed this morning, led me to a side room and showed me the biggest tub I’ve ever seen! Filled with water, Callum, _water!_ ” She shook him as if it would help the words penetrate his head better and he had to pry her hands off gently.

“Seriously? _That’s_ why you’re so worked up?” He did his best to hold in his snickers, coughing to cover up the worst of them–though the glare he received showed that technique to be ineffective.

Grumbling, Rayla looked every which way before spotting a door and all but flung it open before darting inside and slamming it behind her.

“You…know that’s a broom closet…right?”

“Shush! I’m hiding!”

“… _Right..._ Ahem. _Look_ ; I know you’re not the biggest fan of water, but… _c’mon_ you can’t tell me you’re afraid of a tub of water and soap?”

“I ain’t got anything against soap! Just the water that’s with it.”

“But you’ve got to take a bath at least every _once_ in a while. And after all that’s happen you do kind of need one,” he mumbled.

“Ye don’t understand! I _tried_ to tell her that I was fine; got my own way of cleaning that does just as well as a bath–and _more to the point_ I am not a child needing a nan to get behind her horns–thank ye very much! But she just got this–this _look_ , Callum! This look that saw my declination as a _challenge!_ ” He heard her shiver through the door, “I haven’t chicken run that fast in a while.”

“Chicken run?”

“Yeah, where ye get so scared ye run every which way like a chicken.”

“Huh. Makes sense.”

“'Course it makes sense. Why would I say something that didn’t make sense?”

“She’s got you there, Callum.”

“Ezran you grew up with me _and_ Claudia. You know sometimes sense is relativ– _hey!_ Aunt Amaya! You're here! How-how are you?”

General Amaya stood there, with Ezran tucked dejectedly under one arm, looking somewhere between amused and exasperated.

[Callum, as I told Ezran, asking someone whom you saw not an hour ago “how they are doing” is a very blatant indicator that you are up to no good.]

“I–I don’t know about that? I just…think it’s good manners?”

“Sorry Rayla,” Ezran called, “Stalling turned into her finding out I haven’t been in water since I jumped into the ice to save Zym’s egg.”

“ _Oh_ so that’s what that smell was. I just thought it was Bait,” his brother mused.

“Oh, like you can talk, Callum! The castle stables have smelled nicer than you.”

“Hey!”

[Boys, enough,] Amaya signed, putting Ezran down. [Callum have you seen Rayla? Her bandages need to be changed and her wounds have to be cleaned. In short; she needs a bath.]

“Right, yeah, about that,” the eldest prince began, walking backwards until his aunt’s back was to the closet where the young elf in question was currently hiding.

“You see, Aunt Amaya, the thing is, _Rayla_ …” the door creaked open gently and a horned head poked out, “-Isn’t exactly water’s biggest fan. She’s a moonshadow elf, you know, not a–a water…wave elf.”

“Waterwave?” Rayla mouth at him.

Callum shrugged and carried on, “See, despite the whole ‘I am an assassin and thus cause fear not have it myself’ thing, she’s actually…kind of a scaredy-cat about water.”

 _Elves can’t kill with just a look right? That’s not a thing?_ He thought as the elf turned the mother of all death-glares at him as she slowly padded away.

Amaya frowned before nodding in understanding.

[I see. Thank you for telling me Callum. I will do my best to accommodate Rayla’s discomfort with water–] Quick as lightning, the General spun around and had the young girl up and gently tossed over her shoulder before anyone could so much as squeak.

[–But she’s still going to get a bath. As are you and Ezran.]

With that last sign, the woman picked her youngest nephew up (Callum had long learn it was best to not fight it and dutifully followed) and began striding back towards her personal washroom, Rayla kicking all the while.

“No! Put me down ye five-fingered fiend! I tell ye I don’t need a bath and even if I did I wouldn’t need help!”

“’Kay first off," Callum said, "You’re still having trouble raising your arms a certain height so I think cleaning yourself would be a bit of _stretch._ _Ha_ –get it?! Stretch! 'Cause you’d have to stretch to reach like your back and stuff!”

“Merciful gods, please end me now…”

“And second; you realize she can’t hear you right? And you’re facing the wrong way for her to read your lips?”

“I am aware, _Callum_ , but it makes me feel better!”

“…Fair enough.”

“Ugh. Would ye be a dear and translate for me? So she can know exactly how much I am decidedly _not pleased_ with the current situation.”

“Normally yes, but I’m pretty sure she already knows.”

“Oh? And how’s that, oh _wise_ one?”

“She’s got that smirk on her face that she gets when she knows she’s won.”

“Of course she does. Sadistic busybody.”

“Annnd now’s grinning evilly. I think she sensed your grumblings.”

“How’s about you come a wee bit closer and I’ll give you a even better sense of them!”

“No, thank you.”

“You guys are weird,” Ezran chimed in, his mouth full from a jelly tart.

“Where in the world were you keeping that?” Callum asked, having sworn his hands had been empty earlier.

“Is he eating _another_ jelly tart?! I can smell it from back here!”

“In my shirt,” the youngest answered.

“I feel like that’s a poor place to keep a squishy pastry.”

“Kind of. But it keeps it warm though. Want one?”

“”No!”” they answered simultaneously.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments feed my goblin muse so keep'em coming.   
> If there's something in particular you wanna see, say so.  
> I might just add it. ^^


	4. Artwork for Chapter 3




End file.
